FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ECONOMIC FREEDOM - PAGE 4

A conservative legal foundation filed a petition with the federal government Friday to strip the manatee of its status as an endangered species, challenging protections that have prevented the construction of docks and led to slow-speed zones along Florida's rivers and canals. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a California-based organization with a Florida office in Stuart, says the manatee's status should be altered from "endangered" to "threatened," a change that would not result in any immediate decline in protection.

Maybe it`s a sham. Probably the repressive government of Cuba is merely leading on the courageous dissidents there by saying they actually could be candidates for the National Assembly in October elections. If so, the Castro dictatorship`s bluff is being called. Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payo, speaking by telephone from Havana to Puerto Rico, announced plans to run for the National Assembly. It`s a bold and personally dangerous move for Payo, who has long been harassed by the government and lives under close and stifling surveillance.

Exploration has always been a human quest. The results of this quest have enriched and expanded the quality of life on Earth. Cheers resounded when the module landed on Mars and began its work. Besides bragging rights, I don't understand how this achievement really helps the American people. I would guess the cost of our interplanetary exploration exceeds billions of dollars. I would feel better bragging about this country investing that kind of money to feed Americans who can't get enough to eat, to allow Americans the luxury of not having to decide between medicine and food, to promote affordable quality education for our children from kindergarten through college, to create an environment that would reward creating quality jobs that remain in this country, ensuring America economic growth, freedom and stability.

Milton Friedman deserves our gratitude for a multitude of contributions to American economic theory, political thought and public policy. But possibly his greatest contributions have been destroying the credibility of Keynesian economics and making libertarian philosophy and the idea of free markets academically respectable. What has made Friedman so effective is that he has the ability to express economic principles in terms that non-economists can understand. Yet at the same time, his technical brilliance has changed the direction of scientific research in economics.

WASHINGTON — A compelling case for cutting off aid to Egypt could have been made before President Mohamed Morsi was bounced from office. After all, Morsi was well on his way to placing the country under an Islamist regime — forever. That's why he shut down foreign non-governmental organizations, curtailed civil rights and decreed the presidency superior to the courts. When the military stepped in, Morsi was in the process putting Muslim Brotherhood functionaries into 12 provincial governorships and more than 40 ambassadorships.

Thirty-eight years have passed since the United States last analyzed comprehensively its policy toward Cuba. That's much too long, and the decrepit, out-of-date policies should be examined with fresh minds by a bipartisan commission. A sound proposal to set up such a commission, made by heavy hitters formerly in government, ought to be accepted favorably by President Clinton. Two former secretaries of state, Henry Kissinger and Lawrence Eagleburger, are principal advocates of a new commission, as are former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci.

On a recent fall evening, a group of young friends gathered at a small Beijing cafe. As they sipped Cokes and cappuccinos, they agreed that they enjoy more freedom than any previous generation of Chinese. "These days, we basically have freedom to choose how we want to live our lives," said Rosa Gao, 28, who quit her job in a bank to join a private consulting firm. Two years ago, she would have been required to get government permission to make that move. But labor system reforms now permit Chinese to choose their careers, and Gao hopes one day to own a company of her own. A stroll through the Sanlitun district, where more than 40 trendy cafes have opened in the past six months, illustrates her point.

On a recent fall evening, a group of young friends gathered at a small Beijing cafe. As they sipped Cokes and cappuccinos, they talked about their lives and hopes for the future, and agreed that, without doubt, they enjoy more freedom than any previous generation of Chinese. "These days we basically have freedom to choose how we want to live our lives," said Rosa Gao, 28, who quit her job in a bank to join a private consulting firm. Two years ago she would have required government permission to make that move.

A midterm report card on the presidential candidates` economic programs: GEORGE BUSH: George is a nice boy, but too easily influenced by his companions. When he was running with Ronnie Reagan`s crowd, George seemed to believe everything they did was swell. Then, as soon as Ronnie graduated, George fell under the sway of Dickie Darman and Nickie Brady, and the next thing you knew he was doing whatever little Danny Rostenkowski wanted him to do. Now that that didn`t work, George is trying to figure out what he actually believes all by himself.

In 1980, the United States was suffering from what Jimmy Carter called a malaise. In 1987, with only a year-and-a-half left in the Reagan administration, the malaise is gone, but so is much of the political vitality that launched the Reagan Revolution. Both political parties are searching for a cohesive set of policies, but without much success. The result is a political void, and voids don`t capture the imagination of the body politic. Think back seven years to the campaign of 1980. Along with the malaise, there was political ferment.